Research topics Marquardt group

Optomechanics - Light interacting with nanomechanical motion has become a research topic drawing a lot of attention recently. Read more about our theory contributions in that domain.

Decoherence - A quantum system interacting with a noisy environment suffers decoherence, i.e. interference effects are destroyed. This is a topic important both for fundamental reasons (quantum-classical transition, quantum measurement, characterizing interaction effects), as well as for possible applications (sensitive measurements and quantum information processing).

Atomic Nuclei - In the research areas mentioned so far the atomic nucleus can be treated as a charged point. At higher spatial resolution, below 10-14 m, one has to account for its structure, consisting of interacting protons and neutrons. Quite similar as the metallic clusters the nucleus is a finite many-body system, a drop, whose structure is strongly determined by quantum shell effects and surface forces. Enhanced stability at certain magic proton and/or neutron numbers allows the existence of exotic unstable nuclei which can be produced in reactors or by accelerators. Exotic isotopes of known elements, i.e. extremely neutron- or proton rich nuclei play an important role in the nucleosynthesis in stars. There is also the quest for yet unknown superheavy elements with Z > 112. The new reactor in Garching is excellently suited for further experimental research in this area. This allows an improvement of the theories for the structure of the atomic nucleus and its dynamics.